Separate Ways
by Nature9000
Summary: The time has come for the final iCarly, as three friends come together for one last tearful goodbye before going off to different things, they hope to still be friends, but struggle with the pain of moving on.


Separate Ways

Disclaimer: Don't own iCarly. Nope.

A/N: Actually this _could_ potentially turn into a story. Just let me know what you think at the end, and depending on how many people read it and tell me it could make a good story, I'll turn it into one ^_^. Now if you will read this, you'll find my important author note at the bottom saying what I'd do if i make this into a multi-chaptered story.

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><p>-A QUICK ONESHOT FOR YOU-<p>

The time had come. The thought ran through Freddie's mind as he zipped his thin, denim jacket down and let it hang open at his sides, revealing his clean white t-shirt. Sam rounded the corner rather hastily, not bothering to look Freddie in the eyes. Both of them stepped in front of Carly's brown oak doorway, staring at it with lack of expression. Within seconds, the air they had been holding in their mouths was released and they found themselves looking into the sad brown eyes of Carly Shay. Today would be the final broadcast of iCarly.

With everybody having turned eighteen, this night would end up being inevitable. "We need to hurry…" Freddie's voice was quiet as his eyes drifted over to Spencer's latest work of art. He'd recently returned to college with a double major, one to finish up law and the other was a major in art. He recently married as well, to a beautiful vixen by the name of Sasha Striker. He was ready to start a family. Freddie moved his eyes back to his friend as she stepped to the side and allowed the two to enter the apartment. "Jonah's picking me up in an hour."

Jonah and Valerie Brown were two of his closest friends, besides Sam and Carly. He knew the two longer than the girls, however, but he never really talked about when he was a kid, so neither Carly or Sam really knew how long Freddie had known either Jonah or Valerie. As close as they were, there were still plenty that the girls did not know about Freddie, as he had never been one for talking about himself. He also survived his mother's passing several months ago, she had developed an inoperable tumor. Freddie was going to leave on a trip across the world in an attempt to figure himself out, he would most likely not return for a few years, and he knew it. Also joining them would be his girlfriend, Ashley, who was as well someone the girls didn't know he was dating. He had planned on telling them before, but things had become so hectic that he never got around to it.

Sam had already told them, and would be announcing on iCarly's final broadcast, a surprise of her own. She too, would be going away with her sister, to attend their father's alma mater. She had been surprised to receive an acceptance letter, but due to the rigorous tutoring given to her by Carly, Melanie, and Freddie, in the past two years, her grades had been spectacular. She made scores well enough on the SATs to get into any college in the country.

As far as colleges went, Carly would be attending a nearby university and living in the dorms in order to let her brother and sister in law start a family. Her room would soon be turned into a nursery. "Everything's set up in the studio already, Spencer and Sasha decided to do that for us." Carly smiled warily as she led her two friends upstairs where her brother and Sasha were waiting. There was no 'going away' party, there would only be the three friends, spending their last day together. At least they would still be friends through computers and other means of communications. They had already spent half the morning together before returning to their homes to change out of the outfits they had worn earlier, Nevel had decided to give them a goodbye present that consisted of a mud trap.

Within minutes, the trio found themselves standing in front of the familiar, yet lonely looking lens. Spencer was standing behind the camera, smiling brightly. Sam and Freddie glanced somberly at him and shrugged. They were sad to be parting, yes, but they were happy to be moving on with their lives. As the red light faded on, Carly stepped forward with her wide grin and red cheeks.

"Hi people of Earth, this is iCarly and I'm Carly Shay. You know Sam and Freddie as well." The two friends waved and smiled at the camera, letting no one see through the sudden cheery mask they put on, their sorrow. While Freddie wasn't as sad about what was happening as Sam and Carly were, he did hate to see all the memories go. It seemed too soon. With a sudden clench in her chest, Carly's exuberant smile fell into a frown. "I'm afraid we have some bad news. The time has come to say goodbye to iCarly once and for all."

In their minds, they could already hear the protests of the fans that loved them, as well as the cheers of the fans that hated them. Sam was to be the first to share her wonderful news with the fans. She took a dramatic step forward and took a bow, continuing where Carly left off.

"It's been great! I'll never forget all the times we had, will you?" Her teeth shone in her grin as she jumped up and clapped her hands together. "We wanted to share with you some things that are going on in our lives and why we have to stop doing iCarly. We don't want to make this depressing for you or for us, because the paths we're going are going to be the best experiences!"

"Well I don't know if I'd say best." Carly laughed as she walked up and placed her elbow upon Sam's left shoulder. "We've had some pretty damn good experiences. Such as, putting Miss Brigg's head on a rhino."

"Or being pushed out of a plane over Japan," Freddie chimed as he stared at Sam with a slightly accusing expression, which was mixed with amusement. Sam gave him an innocent look and placed her hand to her chest.

"You don't think _I_ would do something like _that_, do you?" Her innocent grin began to chance into that of a devious smile. He rolled his eyes as she turned around and crossed her arms over. "Actually, I remember your mom's reaction best."

"Mom kept getting hit on the head, I think that might have caused her to become even more insane than usual." Freddie laughed at the memory. It helped him, on the basis that losing his mother was actually painful for him, but Carly and Sam taught him to laugh and to smile at the good things. Carly felt a tear leave her right eye and she quickly wiped it away, not wanting anyone to think she was too sad during what should be a happy occasion. Sam quickly turned back to the camera, peering at Freddie from the corner of her eyes and turning them to the lens.

"I think you may have brain damage, actually. Who knows. Anyway…" Her lips curled back into a large grin as she pulled a slip of paper from her pocket and held it up to the lens. "I got accepted into Harvard University! I'm going to Harvard with my sister, Melanie!" She hugged the paper to her chest and closed her eyes. "I want to thank Carly, Freddie, and even Melanie for tutoring me for the past few years and helping me get my grades up. Melanie and I did everything together our whole lives and she wanted to go to Harvard, so I _knew_ I had to step up my game, and so I did."

"Well congratulations, Sam." Carly pat her friend on the back and pushed her hands into her pockets. "When does school start for you two?"

"Well, we have to move into the dorms in a few weeks. That's why I can't do iCarly anymore, life's getting in the way for me." Sam turned her head down and Carly placed her hands upon her best friend's shoulders.

"Look at me, Sam." Sam lifted her eyes to her friend and smiled as her body warmed with comfort. "Don't be sad that iCarly's ending. Our lives are just beginning, and we'll always have each other to fall back on when we need something. Right?"

"R-Right, we will!"

"I have your number, Freddie's number, you have ours, he has ours, so we'll never be too far away from each other." Truth be told, Harvard scared Sam. Any college at all scared her, and that's why she really wanted her sister with her. Whereas friends did come and go, there was just an unbreakable bond between sisters that kept her with Melanie all the time. At the same time, at least Carly would always be there too.

"Yeah, but Freddie's got some news too, right Freddie?" Sam turned her attention to the boy next to her. He nodded and leaned up against the wall, folding his arms over and closing his eyes.

"I'm not starting college just yet, I want to figure some things out first." He cleared his throat as the girls listened eagerly, they knew he wanted to admit something that he had not told them, he mentioned a surprise that was sort of a surprise and sort of not. "As most of you know, my mom died last November, and if it wasn't for Sam, Carly, my best friend Jonah, Valerie, and even my girlfriend, I wouldn't have made it out."

"Wait, what? Back up there, Benson…Girlfriend?" Sam's jaw fell and Carly's eyebrows rose astonishingly. They thought he'd at least tell Sam if he started dating again after they split up a few years ago. His eyes fell from their shock and he slowly pushed his hands into his pockets, an act that was oddly comforting to him.

"You might remember her, Ashley, from when we were going through interns." Ashley was a high school kid taking college courses at the time, she too was unsure if she wanted to actually go to school or not. She could be anything she wanted to be, though, as her scores were pretty good. "About five months after you and I split up, I ran into her at the supermarket and we started talking. She was a comfort to me and we hit it off."

"Well…" Sam wasn't upset with this, as the two of them had stopped seeing each other, but she was still in total shock. "I can't be angry at you, I just…I wish you told us."

"Yeah Freddie, you even told us you were good friends with Jonah and Valerie!" Freddie felt his blood heat up inside of him as he turned his eyes away. While it was true they knew him to be good friends, their thought was that he became friends with them _after_ Sam dated Jonah.

"There's another point. Jonah has been my best friend since I was about eight years old. He, Valerie, and I have actually been very close friends since we all met up at a carnival. Actually, we met Valerie a year later." The girls gasped softly and exchanged looks of astonishment.

"No wonder you never got overly mad at Jonah…"

"What he did was wrong, yes, and we did have an argument over it…" It had become so heated that Valerie had to step in and scold them both, she eventually found a way to get them to remember their friendship and not let something tear them apart. A sense of anxiousness washed over Freddie and he quickly moved on from the subject, fearing the ramifications of continuing on about it. He took a slow breath and pushed himself forward. "You also know Jonah and Valerie married a year ago, well eloped…They, along with Ashley, and I are going to be traveling across the country, and maybe the world with a famous chef that took Valerie in as an apprentice. It's a great opportunity to see the world and I wouldn't want to give it up for anything!"

The girls slowly smiled, happy for Freddie's decision. They believed it would be a great experience for him and hoped that he would learn a lot from it. Carly chimed in and gave Freddie a quick hug. "As long as you continue to call us, we'll be happy for you."

"I promise you I won't forget either of you if you guys don't forget me." The trio all agreed with the nod of their heads and hugged each other tightly. The only person left that hadn't said where she was going from here was Carly. She turned around from the group, brushed her hair behind her ear and softly cleared her throat.

"As for me, iCarly fans, I'm going to go to Seattle University and study Liberal Arts and politics! Watching the news all the time got me to thinking, someone needs to make a few changes, and that someone is going to be me!" Freddie grinned and Sam laughed, quickly nudging her friend and smiling at the camera.

"Carly Shay for president!"

"One day!" Carly pumped her right fist into the air and broke out in laughter. "One day guys, one day."

As the hour passed on, the group finally finished iCarly and were standing outside near Jonah's car. He was driving a black Nissan convertible, the top was down. Valerie was in the front passenger seat and Ashley was in the rear left side, behind the driver. Freddie was leaning against the car as the girls said their teary goodbyes.

Turning the corner was a silver Honda, being driven by Melanie. She was coming to pick Sam up so they could finish packing for the dorm. They were going to be roommates for the next few years of their college life, it was exciting.

After fifteen minutes, Carly soon found herself standing alone in the sunset, watching both of her friends driving off. Freddie was kissing Ashley as they took a right turn, heading off into a scary unknown. Sam, waved from the car as Melanie turned left, heading for home. Pain stuck her heart as Carly felt a part of her torn away. Her stomach cringed as she closed her eyes and turned around, this time letting the tears fall past her chin. Entering the lobby, she saw Spencer with his arm around Sasha's shoulders. The two of them gazed carefully at Carly, who was doing her best to ignore the pain inside of her. However, it was already written all over her face. Her voice broke as she looked up to her brother. "Spencer?"

In Jonah's Car, Freddie peered over the back of the car, his arm around Ashley's shoulder and his face twisted in a mournful look. Jonah gazed into the rearview mirror, feeling a sudden wave of sadness gripping his heart. He felt for his friend and knew what he was going through. Freddie tried desperately to not let it show, but he was scared and unsure. Where was he going? Would he see Carly or Sam again? What was going to happen now? He swallowed hard and looked forward, it was all he could do now. He knew Jonah would turn the car around for him if he wanted, and Valerie had constantly been asking, as well as Ashley, if Freddie really wanted this. He did, and he wouldn't let Jonah turn around. There was no more going back. He knew Carly would be too preoccupied with college, and Sam would be off at Harvard, there was nobody left for him with his mom gone and his best friends away. He had no alternatives. A tear left his eye and Ashley brushed it away from his cheek and gently placed her head upon his shoulder, offering to him whatever comfort she could. "Jonah?"

Sam turned away from the window and exhaled deeply, slumping in her chair. Melanie glanced at her worriedly and placed her hand on her sister's arm for comfort. Sam slowly looked up and smiled sadly, she could think of no words to say in this moment. All she knew were the memories of iCarly, the friendships she had. Thinking back to earlier, she remembered how Gibby couldn't be there for the final webshow, as he had already moved to another state with his father. Sam remembered missing how he would always take off his shirt at the most inappropriate times, or how Freddie would always argue back with her, and how Carly was truly the calm one of the group. God, she was going to miss them all. It was only four years, right? She lifted her hand to her chest, feeling it stabbing her and choking her. No, she wanted to join the air force after college, that alone made it harder for her to see Carly and Freddie. "Melanie?"

The three friends asked the same question, one that weighed not only on their own hearts, but on those they were with. "Will I ever see them again?" Nobody knew how to answer that question. As Jonah and Melanie gripped the wheels of their cars and Spencer hugged Carly close to him, crying with her, they could only think of one thing to say.

"Maybe one day, maybe you'll see them again one day."

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><p>As you can see, it's left open ended. Yes, they go their separate ways. What I'd do if I make it a multi chapter would be detail three different plotlines (and as you know, I usually always try to make <em>all<em> my plots come together at some point of time), Sam and Melanie's experience at Harvard while talking to Carly, who's coping with her college, and Freddie's group traveling the world. I hope you've enjoyed this oneshot.


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